Rock catchments

Rock catchments utilise the surface run-off of water from flat rocky outcrops on hilltops. By building channels around the rock, rainwater is guided into a pipeline that supplies one or more water tanks.

Since 2002, Excellent has supported communities to build 12 rock catchments, with each one able to collect up to 104,000 litres per tank for domestic use.

Could you donate today and supply more communities with the tools, hardware, support and guidance they need to transform their own lives with lifelong access to clean water?

Please select a donation amount: *

£15could provide a farmer with drought-resistant seeds, so they can feed and support their family.

£30could supply a community with a rake, gardening fork, shovel and watering cans, to plant trees for fruit, fuel and fodder

£60could provide a roll of barbed wire to reinforce a sand dam, anchoring it to the bedrock.

Latest

Excellent Development supports communities in drylands around the world to transform their own lives with sand dams and climate-smart agriculture; empowering them to achieve lifelong access to water and food.
Please donate what you can today to help the Kyekuyu self-help group in southeast Kenya and their community (whose sand dam is being built with the support of Jersey Overseas Aid), as well as other dryland farmers to transform their own lives through climate-smart agriculture.

When water supplies are low, drastic measures are often turned to in efforts to collect it. The construction of a water tank in Utini Girls Secondary School in southeast Kenya has helped to lift this burden, according to testimony from members of the school community.

Thank you to all to tuned in to our BBC Radio 4 to hear our sand dam expedition volunteer, Sarah Parker, speak about the impact of sand dams and how they're helping farmers like Josephine to transform their lives.

Related

Water tanks store rainwater collected from the roof of schools. A typical school water tank can collect up to 104,000 litres of water, and they refill every rainy season. Each water tank can last over 25 years and require little maintenance. Each one provides water for generations of children.

Most read

Read about our plan to directly support other organisations to build sand dams, in turn, realising our vision to support millions of the world’s poorest people by helping them to transform their own lives through water and soil conservation in drylands.